Jellybeans - not sure what to make of this?

dragon · Mar 17, 2009

Hi guys and girls,

Well i'm not sure what to think. Just had a really strange "threatening" call from a lady who apparently owned the domain jellybeans / co / uk .. alot was said to make me feel bad (ie. i stole the domain from a fundraiser, and if i've ever had a child of mine die from anything, etc).. and said i would be named and shamed for getting the domain as they have contacts in alot of major newspapers..

Apparently she owned jellybeans for 20 years before the hosting co went into liquidation or something, so i was told. I asked for her surname and she refused to tell me

then i asked her what she does/if she was in business etc, she said she sells shoes, and a whole range of things, then said actually she's a pauper and rides a bicycle. Apparently she's donated £1m to charitable causes. And she was appealing to my good nature to return the domain to her. She also said she's the founder(or one of the founders) of the jellybeans campaign.

I asked a few more questions about the domain and her fundraising organisation, and she said she knows nothing about computers or the internet.

Did a bit of research and found this:
Cyber-Squatter has nicked a domain name of ours and wants £20,000 for it! - UK Business Forums

What does everyone think? She's called Barbara something. Believe its the woman on the forum above.

Looking for advice as i've done nothing wrong and the domain is non TM'd.

GreyWing · Mar 17, 2009

Vendingrevolution and snackacan in her signature dosen't sound like a charitable organisation to me. 20 years old website????

She's lying through her backside, tell her to do one.

retired_member16 · Mar 17, 2009

Sounds like a fruitcake to me, tell her to kiss your arse.

dtm · Mar 17, 2009

The only advice I can provide is that she seems to be telling the truth about 'The Jelly Bean Campaign' looking at the archive.org page here:
The Jelly Bean Campaign

I'd beware of possible DRS although i'm sure you didn't actually quote her £20,000 for it did you, so in my opinion a comment like that would put me on your side

denchomsky · Mar 17, 2009

Agree with Greywing, she doesn't mention any charity in her posts, I think she has made a big boo boo in letting the name drop (good catch by the way) and is obviously very annoyed, which is understandable.

Get ready for a fight, but I don't think you have done anything wrong, she is not trading under the name jellybeans as far as I can tell.

mmmm, actually if you clink the email link on that charity site the email address is charity@jellybeans so maybe I am wrong?

GreyWing · Mar 17, 2009

Mate she might be taking 99% profit and donating 1% to charity, her sites say to me that you have nothing to feel guilty about.

Ask her for her registered charity number to verify further.

dtm · Mar 17, 2009

Further reading into this notice the post:

Nominet has very good domain name resolution [service]. Well worth giving them a call.

If she's called you, she's almost certainly going to follow this advice.

Systreg · Mar 17, 2009

Calling you a thief for "nicking" her domain and calling you a cyber squatter, that would be slander. She said she has a bike, tell her to get on it, I hate pissy people like that, everyone else is to blame, except them

[edit]

She also posted your address from the Who-Is which is apparently against Nominet rules to do so, you should post on that forum to explain domaining to them so they understand it.

bensd · Mar 17, 2009

Maybe someone should post on that forum and tell her to post here for some advice

bb99 · Mar 17, 2009

There is some really horrificly poor advice/observations/comments in that forum thread - most of them have no clue!

The previous owner's webhost looks to have ballsed it up from start to finish.

I wonder why the lady thought threatening you would be a positive thing to do - madness.

disruptive · Mar 17, 2009

Nothing to worry about! You have the moral upperhand, I know its hard in these circumstances, but do not feel under moral pressure. If anything she should approach her useless hosting company and sue them! So I want to reassure you of that.

Just do as other have suggested and protect yourself. Whether that means, going into business and selling a product (affiliates or something tied to that business) or even putting up a corporate page for you newly registered Ltd Company. My instinct would be to avoid openly selling the domain and to not put up any parking.

I once had a death threat on a particular domain name left on my mobile. I know it was them! So when I got a DRS later that month I used all these incidents against them. I won the DRS finally even though they had a co. of the name name. Still I suggest to protect yourself you create a little "shell" around the name.

You might want to go to companies house and find out about her business, turnovers etc etc. You might be surprised to learn how little she makes or how mickey mouse her operation is.

Good luck!

seanh · Mar 17, 2009

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Its her fault the name was not renewed and you caught it fair and square. The only one to blame is her current registrar.

Great catch!

Jeewhizz · Mar 17, 2009

bensd said:
Maybe someone should post on that forum and tell her to post here for some advice

I am a long standing member there, and a similar post is made about once a month by people who either don't renew their name, or register the hyphenated, and don't worry about the non-hyphenated until they have grown (or vice versa).

I have replied.

cm1975 · Mar 17, 2009

Have you seen the number of sweets you get for £1 in those small tins .... and she has the cheek to suggest you are a thief!!?

It sounds like the hosting companies have given very poor advice, and if her husband is in IT, then he should have clued himself up a little better!

It's a fairly generic domain, so I see no problem with it AND they already have a replacement domain - jellybeancampaign.co.uk

If you do feel at all guilty, sell it on to a large company, such as Jelly Belly, and donate a percentage to one of the charities she supports.

GreyWing · Mar 17, 2009

cm1975 said:
It's a fairly generic domain, so I see no problem with it AND they already have a replacement domain - jellybeancampaign.co.uk

I've Just reg'd it, price 10k bargain

bensd · Mar 17, 2009

GreyWing said:
I've Just reg'd it, price 10k bargain

Don't think so, that is their website: The Jelly Bean Campaign

GreyWing · Mar 17, 2009

GreyWing said:
I've Just reg'd it, price 10k bargain

How many of you just checked the whois? Common admit it, you think I'm a mercenary don't you?

GreyWing · Mar 17, 2009

bensd said:
Don't think so, that is their website: The Jelly Bean Campaign

I never even checked mate, lol

mojoco · Mar 17, 2009

The woman is full of shit

when someone asked if she had jellybeans trademarked she replied....

Not trademarked - all other aspects of our business is, but this one never occurred to us.

one of her business's
Vending Revolution has no trademark at all
and a trademark for Snack a Can was only applied for in january 2009

Intellectual Property Office - Results

Put your price up in response to her bad attitude!